Today we played with a lot of Wing Chun principles, including some fun freestyle defensive drills from Paul. The sparring after that was also good – I can tell you dudes and dudettes have been doing a lot more of it in recent weeks.

In the second half, I took you through some of the basic wrist grab escapes, but with more intensity and resistance, thanks to a mention from Chris. Then we ploughed through some speed drills, which were surprisingly tiring actually, I have to say! It’s amazing how tired you can get in ten seconds. After that we lowered the intensity with some flow sparring, and then some good old-fashioned Shŭāng Chīsau (双黐手) before getting into some Spadwork.

At the end, the lower grades went through some more speed drills and Spadwork, while I took the higher grades through an introduction to basic Ballistic Striking, thanks to some tips from the legendary Val Riazanov. If you don’t know who that is, stick his name into YouTube and you’ll understand why I’m looking at you funny for not knowing who he is! This picture to the left is him, in black (obviously, I mean – can you imagine disarming him? I wouldn’t fancy my chances.)

All in all, a very enjoyable session this week and better numbers that we’ve been seeing in the past. However, it is also university season, and so unfortunately today was the last time we’ll be seeing Charlie and Chris for a few weeks. However, at least they’ve been given something to think about and play around with while they’re gone.